Recent content by vbharrington

So - should I add the stuff and raise the CYA while I am slamming?

After a week of heavy rains and high temperatures, my beautiful pool is now cloudy and greenish. Last night we noticed that it was cloudy, so we added 4 gallons of bleach. This afternoon the pool looked worse! Here are our numbers: TC - 0 TA - 100 PH 7.2 CYA <20 We have added additional...

We have just bought a TurboTurtle for our pool, and then spent the better part of an hour watching it (It doesn't take much to amuse us) The turtle keeps getting itself wrapped up in its hose. I've checked the Polaris site for troubleshooting, and the only suggestion is to lay the float hose...

I've been testing my chlorine daily and I've been following the Poolmath calculator and adding roughly 2 gallons of bleach a day. Even though I've been adding bleach daily, are pool is in direct sunlight most of the day, so I know it burns off. Our CYA is testing as 40. Here's my problem...

First, I apologize in advance for not having a photo, I will have one as soon as soon as I can manage. My pool is full of these big black ants with wings - my google searching has convinced me they are carpenter ants. I there are thousands of them in the pool every day, and the filter isn't...

I have a new pool, so I haven't had to SLAM before, but I've read posts where folks have used upwards of 80 gallons to get their pool cleared, so don't get discouraged. I had been buying my bleach (Clorox) at Sam's or the generic brand at Wal-Mart, but I have recently discovered that Aldi...

I have 6 year old B/G twins. My son only wants the theme to Jaws played (on a loop) poolside. My daughter only wants to listen to "Tight Fittin' Jeans" by Conway Twitty while swimming. The only song my 4 year old daughter ever wants to listen to is "Elvira." I guess I can't complain, as...

Ok, a couple more newbie questions: I haven't intentionally added borates, so I'm not sure how they got there - could they have been in my "city water" that I used to fill up my pool? I have the TF-100 kit which is awesome! However, I have a terrible time "matching" colors on the "daily"...

My mistake - I did a chlorine test yesterday, the chlorine was 4.0. I added the bleach, and today, less than 24 hours later, it was at 4.5. That is why I said that the level was only raised by .5. I am still very new to the TFP method, and I guess I am having trouble adjusting my mindset to...

I am still learning the TFP method, although I think I am getting there. I have my TF-100 kit and speed stir, and I have tested my water twice so far, these are my numbers. May 9, 2017 CYA - not tested, will test later (still adding conditioner at this time) FC - 3.5 - 4 (I accidentally...

I like those rocks, and it would certainly take fewer of those than the pea gravel, but does it leave enough space for snakes to hide in?

We have just had a 33' AGP installed on the site that my inlaws (many years ago) had a 27' pool. Back "in the day" my inlaws kept pine needles on plastic tarp around the edge of the pool to keep the grass from growing. I have been told that pine needles are a snake pit, and that is why they...

I added 4lbs of conditioner yesterday after a CYA test of 0, and will be "creeping up" to the 8lb 9oz needed according to poolmath. I also added the required amount of 8.25% bleach to get the FC to 4.0. Here are my numbers from this afternoon CYA - not tested, will test again next week FC -...

Thanks - I was going to add the 4lbs, then go back and add about 3-3.5 more pounds once that is dissolved. I know that it's very hard to lower CYA without draining, so I hope to "creep" up on that amount rather than dump a full 8lbs in at once. I do have a few more questions: Is there any...

I tested chlorine and CYA yesterday with my new kit and both came up zilch. I put 4lbs of conditioner in two (new) tube socks and my husband rigged up a metal clothes hanger to hold it over the side. According to the Pool Math calculator, I needed to add 1 gallon, 3 cups of bleach to get my...